Electronic devices which permit a student to read quickly through a text which contains words not in the reading vocabulary of the student by interactively providing the sounding or definitions of selected words are described in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,626, filed July 31, 1979.
The device and method of the copending application enable improved student motivation in that the reading material used for learning to read can be selected from material which is interesting to the student even though a reasonably large percentage of the words in the text are not in the student's current reading vocabulary. This method of teaching supplements the phonics methods since so many words in the english language or in other languages do not decode audibly in a regular manner. These devices aid students in gaining a sight reading vocabulary and employ the sounding approach to the reinforcement of learning and speed up learning foreign languages by quickly providing definitions or translations in the student's native language.